Software developers may document the control of the definition and structure of a technical design in a ‘text program’ such as Microsoft® Word® that provides a comfortable format for most parties involved in the design process. This text document then needs conversion from text to code.
Developers then generally have to code the design from the document, which can lead to errors because of mis-typing or the addition of incorrect information. Alternatively, the developers may have access to an auto code generator that can automatically code into whatever programming language used.
Once the developers complete the coding of the design, a painstaking review is required to ensure that the technical design was converted into code correctly. This process generally takes a relatively long time and requires a very high level of attention to detail. This process is contrary to the movement towards rapid application development in the software industry.
Another issue arises upon completion, or ‘build,’ of the software component. Generally, the build occurs in an integrated development environment (IDE), such as JDeveloper™ created by Oracle®. The developer must then compare the technical design document in the text program to the built component, which may be represented by a collection of multiple source files. This makes tracking of changes caused by code fixes and other changes during the build process hard to identify. The task of ensuring that the built component matches the designed component requires more painstaking and time-consuming review.